


Forbidden Fruit

by everyday_is_everyday



Category: Station 19 (TV)
Genre: Adult Content, Angst and Romance, Boss/Employee Relationship, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Office, Older Man/Younger Woman, Slice of Life, Suggestive Themes, Swearing, Tragedy/Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-02
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-05-31 05:28:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19419415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everyday_is_everyday/pseuds/everyday_is_everyday
Summary: Sequel to "Your Boss' Boss' Boss". This is going to be a ficlet (mini fic). You should read Your Boss' Boss' Boss first in order to appreciate some of the undercurrents, themes and jokes but it's okay if you read this on its own too.  This fic takes a closer look at Ripley and Vic's character and relationship from both their point of views and explains why they are so into each other.  "Forbidden Fruit" happens after a week after "Your Boss's Boss's Boss".Disclaimer:1.I do not own Station 192.I renamed  "I'm Your Boss's Boss's Boss' to "Your Boss's Boss's Boss" because I wasn't aware that there was another fic by the same title. Please read the other one too by imagining_love https://archiveofourown.org/works/14708321/chapters/33990698. I read it and enjoyed it a lot!





	1. Discreetly

**Author's Note:**

> This series fills in meat between events which happened in S2 Ep 12 and Friendly Fire Ep 14 (from the TV series). Ep 13 has got to be one of my favourite. It was a defining episode where Ripley realised that he should do something about his relationship with Vic after that conversation with Pruitt Herrera. He said this about his girlfriend when Ripley remarked that he had no idea he was dating someone : "She doesn't care what or whom. She just goes out and gets what she wants." I dread watching Ep 15 so I will be recreating my own Ep 15 because I find the TV series version totally beyond reason. So, beyond that, it will be my own story. That said, I loved Grey's Anatomy S15 Ep23 for articulating Ripley's weird behaviour when Vic proposed. I particularly enjoyed the bonding between doctor and patient when Ripley confided in Dr Peirce. It was heartwarming but sad too.
> 
> P/s: I'm assuming that it has been about 6 weeks since the end of Ep 12 to Ep 14. I have only started to watch S19 S1 Ep6 onwards so I don't know much about the other characters and if I wrote them out to be OOC, I'm so sorry. I'm not a fan of Station 19 (at least not after the Chief died) and I was only watching it for Vic and Lucas. I can identify with Vic because I used to have a crush on a colleague who was more than 10 years older than me. Things were pretty awkward then and I laugh thinking about it.

His eyes started to sting from staring too long at a computer screen and he had to consciously blink to bring some moisture back into his eyes. 

"Eyedrops...eyedrops...," Lucas fumbled, checking his drawers and stationery tray."Where did I leave them...where did I leave them....du du du du....," he hummed while he searched. 

An incoming text distracted him. He checked his phone and smiled when he saw Vic's name. He was pleasantly surprised by the prompt help, she must be psychic.

 **_Message_**  
**_Sender : Victoria, 8.59 a.m._ **

**_Your eye-drops are with me. I will leave them in the pigeon hole in the mail room. You either go get them yourself or send someone to get it for you, okay?_ **

Vic was just outside his office, near the Bulletin Board area sticking some _Post-It_ notes on the whyteboard. So Vic wasn't psychic. She saw him rubbing his eyes and fumbling for his eye-drops. She peeked in between the blinds to his office and he waved his _thanks_ but he didn't want to go to the pigeon hole right now _._ He didn't feel like it right now. Another message from her came in. 

**_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Victoria, 9.00 a.m._ **

**_You know, if your legs are still wobbly. I can always stop by on the pretext of work-related updates and deliver it to you personally._**

Lucas told Vic this morning that his legs were like jelly when he tried to perform those lunges at her home, part of his morning exercise and the girl seemed to take note of every little thing about him. With this last message, Chief Ripley leaned back in his directors' seat and grinned like a silly boy. 

**_Okay._ **He replied. 

Whenever Lucas slept over at Vic's apartment which is a lot closer to Station 19's HQ than his _own_ home, they had set up a routine of riding secretly in each others' car and then dropping off each other at inconspicuous spots where no one would see them. The driver would count to ten while the other enters the building separately.

Whenever, they ran into each other in the building the other would act surprised and greet another like it was the first time they'd seen each other in days or weeks. That morning, Vic drove and Lucas dropped his bottle of eyedrop at the front passengers' seat of her car.

He said _okay_ but It had nothing to do with wobbly legs. If Lucas made it to work, there was no reason why he couldn't even make it to the mail room pigeon hole area. All he wanted was to see Vic. For some reasons, after their first fight and after they made up, he felt closer to her than ever and every second away from that person felt like eternity. A part of him wanted to live with her, for her to be the last person he sees before he goes to sleep and the first person he sees when he wakes up every day. However, when he thought of the complications and the upheavals to his life, he shied away from this thought and cringed in confusion. 

_Can this be it? Marriage no. 3? Kids...?_ He frowned. What about his career as Chief of the Seattle Fire Department? Lucas gave his head a flick to shake those thoughts away.

He still had tonnes of emails to reply and piles of documents to sign after being out sick for a week. He can't lie to himself that his movements felt sluggish and his brain was slow at processing whatever he was reading. He never seemed to get past the subject header:

**_Re: New Pension Scheme for Fire-Fighters_ **

**_Dear Chief Ripley,_ **

**_I sent a few reminders over the last week. When you get a chance, could you please take a look and let me know if you've questions. We need your approval._ **

It was something he had to act upon with answers fast, if he wanted to avoid repeated reminders from the Frankel and unpleasant chasers from HR department. If he doesn't reply, HR Department goes to Frankel and she comes chasing after Ripley to reply.

He had really wanted to get some work done that morning but each time he focused on his LCD screen, Vic's face appeared on it, smiling at him lovingly. He didn't feel like doing anything at all; he only wanted to _do_ was Vic. A few minutes have passed. He squinted at the screen. The words seemed to have turned into ripples and nothing made sense at all as he typed his response.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and that pulled him out of his inconsequential thoughts. 

"Erm.... Chief Ripley, I er....," Vic stuck her head in, a certain impish grin and mock coyness painted her face,"is this a bad time for...."

"Come on in, Hughes," Lucas invited from his seat, leaning back so much there was a gap between his lower back and the backrest.

Holding a file in her hand, Vic walked in and pretended to accidentally miss the door stopper so that the door swung shut by itself. She lay her gaze on Lucas' eyes and advanced swiftly towards him, then she turned his seat away from his desk so that it faced her. She parted her leg one on each side and sat on his lap, straddling him on the chair. She looped her hands around his neck to secure him closer to her and he took in her scent.

Even at work, Vic smelled good, like the natural scent of flowers, subtle and not overpowering. Ripley was a little taken aback but before he could react, Vic swept her hands across his back, rubbing it feverishly and introducing heat. She leaned back to create space and worked on rubbing his thighs so swiftly that they burned, desire rampant in his eyes. She leaned over and kissed him breathless.

"I...t-think w-we should s-stop," he hissed. But she didn't care. She leaned forward and bit his lower lip, and capturing the upper one with her own, and she searched for his tongue and started sucking until there was no more oxygen left in his lungs. He pulled back with a heavy gasp staring at her quizzically. 

"I t-think so, too," she cupped the back of his head and gave him a chaste kiss on his lips but he unexpectedly pulled her into another kiss, speaking into it,"I l-love y-you, Vic!" She responded his kiss, and her tongue searched for his, running along the edge of his tongue when she found it. He didn't know where to place his hands, and so he decided upon Vic's sexy back. He pulled her shirt out from her pants and stuck his hand in, and started stroking it in circles. She threw back her head and let out a moan. Next, he eyed her boobs. 

"Unbutton yourself," he ordered. When she hesitated, he added."That's an order!"

This time he was the one who wanted it more than her, defying regulations and systems. She complied with a smile and started undoing her first few buttons. He dove into her boobs and bit her nipple, licking and sucking it like it were the most delicious ice-cream in the world. She moaned again and felt her clit tingling and the wetness _down there._

Muscles tensed, his excitement was starting to escalate to dizzying heights and his breath hitched. He knew this _has_ to stop. If anyone walked in, this is it. That would spell the end of their career, _his_ career first, since the system is gender-and-rank-biased towards the favor of the females and the more junior. But his mind was saying one thing and body saying another.

"Ba-by!" He pleaded through half-lidded eyes."S-stop.....p-please...!" He breathed.

Ignoring his plea, her hands traveled to his cock beneath the fabric of his pants stained with pre-cum fluid. She glanced down at his lower half and with a smirk, she started to unbuckle him to create room for her to slide her hand into his pants. She needed to _feel_ his organ and the fabric was getting into her way. With Vic, Ripley is not only always _shirtless_ in her imagination, he is also _pantless._

He leaned back into his seat and moaned with pleasure, scrunching his face, as Vic's fingers worked its way from the tip towards the length of his organ. Lucas' was huge, larger than any of the men her age which she had fucked with in the past. She enveloped her hand around it completely and wrapped around it. Her movements were slow and romantic, rather than urgent and lustful. He matched her movement by subconsciously raising his pelvis each time she dove in. It was addictive and it was driving him crazy. Just like he treats her like a fragile flower needing her protection, she accorded the same nurture.

She licked his ear and planted soft nibbles on the delicate skin of his neck and then his collar bones as she massaged his cock. Looking up as Lucas let out another moan, she saw that his pupils had dilated completely, filling his ocean blue eyes. He looked stunning in that state and his moans seemed to beckon her to give him more. 

"M-more....Vic-to-ria.....t-there! Y-yes, Vic-toria...its there!" He hissed amidst heaving chest. She unbuttoned the first two buttons, revealing his sinewy, slightly hairy chest. 

"Are you sure?" She asked, a knowing smile formed at the corner of her plush lips. He nodded through half-lidded eyes."But what about our being professional?" 

"Know what?" He huffed."I'm done with being professional!" 

She stopped and stared at him. Acknowledging this, she slid her hand into his shirt but it wasn't easy to access him completely and she was getting impatient. She ripped off his uniform and tore it away from him. "Close your eyes!" she teased and he did as he was told for some inexplicable reasons. He seemed to have lost his central nervous control system and did everything Vic told him to.

Footsteps approached and they grew louder and louder. The door flung opened without a knock! 

He looked up, shocked. 

There goes their career. 


	2. Breakfast At 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooh...I promised an update over the last weekend but we are a day ahead (if you're from the Western hemisphere) so I'm not too far from the previous weekend. Anyway, here's the continuation I promised and oh sorry for the cliffhanger. I wasn't going to leave the story at that. Of course, I'm not done yet with this story.

Lucas stared at the door. It was _shut_ tight, not _open_ like it was a second ago. He narrowed his eyes and held his stare. The door was _still_ shut. Then he rubbed his eyes to clear his vision and stared again, hard, at the door (just to be doubly sure). It was _still_ shut alright. So it was _just_ a nightmare. _No_ , it can't be a nightmare when everything was so _sweet_ and _pleasant_ until the door flew open and he jolted in his seat. 

He pinched himself on the arm to test whether he was still dreaming."Ouch! It hurts!" He said to himself.

There was a spirited conversation chorused with amused chuckles right across the air-well outside his office. He turned his head slightly to peep in-between the small gaps between the blinds, trying his best to focus on what little he could make out from it. There was Maya, Jack and Vic. Yes, Vic.... standing just in front of the Station 19 neon red logo chattering away, flailing her arms in her usual animated ways, sharing a joke probably. Much as he wanted to be part of it, he had to be careful lest his body language gave him away -- because Vic was there. He had to maintain a distance. Sully calls it a "professional distance"

It was a nice dream, he thought to himself and he puffed his cheeks heaving air out of his lungs, relieved that their secret was still safe (except to a select few).

 _ **Message**_  
_**Sender : Victoria, 9:03 a.m**_.

" ** _You might wanna turn off your out-of-office reply....i just emailed you and I'm still getting an out-of-office auto-response_**."

The time was 9.16 a.m. Message was sent about more than ten minutes earlier when Vic was somewhere else in the building. Chief Ripley's sick leave notification merely said he was "out" and his delegates were succinctly named. There is no need for a big boss to account to subordinates across stations where and why. He went through his auto-response again and smirked. 

_**Autoreply : I am out effective from Friday Apr 05, 2019 to Thursday April 08 April, 2019 inclusive. Please contact my Battalion Chief, Frankel or my secretary for urgent matters requiring my assistance in my absence.** _

Suddenly conscious of the noise they must have been making when Vic saw him rise from the chair from the corner of her eyes, Vic touched Andy's arm and ushered Jack away from there. She glanced across her shoulder with a knowing look, wanting nothing more than for Lucas to enjoy a bit of peace and quiet for his analytical (she assumed it must be, for a person of his level in the hierarchy) work. Of late, Vic has been behaving like his _wife_ , watching out for his reputation and his career. He is secretly happy but he just doesn't know what to do with _her_ , with _his_ life. But for now, he stood up and walked towards the door and stuck her head out. She extended a customary greeting to him.

"Chief Ripley....," Vic spoke, again with her mouth full, obviously eating something on the go, "good morning....," Vic grinned impishly amidst mock embarrassment,"sorry about the noise pollution." She held Jack's wrist and threw an arm around Andy's back and led them hurriedly away like a bunch of frightened mouse.

"Chief Ripley. Morning!" Jack and Maya greeted, with food in their mouths too. And they stalked along the corridor and disappeared into thestairs.

From their trajectory, he was sure they were headed towards the pantry.

He watched the Station 19 "kids" sharing a little bit of joke here and there and teasing each other made his mind wistfully wander automatically to his rookie days when he had no people to manage. Although firefighting was tough, work was fun too. Days were carefree and he only had his comrades and himself to take care of. He was poor then, having to support Jen through college with what little he made as an unranked firefighter but he had plenty of friends. They were like family, to eat with, laugh with, talk to and hang out with at work with some cheeseburger and fries. There's no professional conduct or work decorum to be bothered about. No secrets to guard. There wasn't a care in the world. Whatever he appeared to be was what he was.

When the captain yells "Go! Go! Go!" and starts clapping, they follow instructions and start rolling together.

There was no debrief reports to write, no appraisal to submit to the higher ups, no peer reviews, no leave administration and pension rewards and benefits to bore him with. Sometimes, Lucas Ripley rethinks his career goals and wonders whether he climbed the firefighters' hierarchy way too quickly. He recalled the conversation he had with Sully just over a week ago....

 _"You know, it's funny. Once you're Chief, you don't have many peers, even fewer real friends, but I keep...I keep wishing lately that I could talk to someone who really knows me_."

And that's how and why he screwed up. Big time screwed up. It just happened. He was incredibly lonely; so he gave in to a moment of weakness and ended up sleeping with his subordinates' subordinates' subordinate. One thing led to another and he found himself giving in to the inexorable slide and got into the habit of doing it. It culminated into a torrid office affair and he didn't know where to go from here. It took him by surprise and he was sure it did the same to Vic.

Who could blame him? Who could blame Vic? To hell with protocols. Live in the moment. Carpe diem. Just enjoy the flow, being in the moment with each other. Life is short as a firefighter and you never know when that _watch_ is that _final watch._

But one person blamed him... _No_ , he didn't exactly blame him but gave him a stern warning that if found out, he will protect Vic (as Vic's direct superior), not _him_.

And that person who issued that warning was none other than his best friend, rather, former best friend, Sullivan.

_Beep Beep!_

A notification from his messaging system pulled him out of his reverie.

No thanks to the after-effects of his week old influenza which made him not only sluggish in his movements but woozy in his head too, he thought that it was an emergency was about to hit that button to activate the siren over the PA system. When he looked down at his phone it turned out to be something he didn't expect.

 **_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Victoria, 9:34 a.m._ **

**_"I'm sorry Lukey, I couldn't invite you openly because we're supposed to be secret xD. You could maybe suddenly just appear, act surprised to see us there n ask if you could join us for breakfast. "_ **

Ripley leaned back in his Chief's armchair and his hand holding the phone drop to the side of his thighs. He could imagine Vic's impish grin whenever she said something like that and appreciate what Vic had just done for him. Ever since he had the fight with her for not being discreet about their relationship, Vic had been super careful -- to the point of acting weird. But who could blame Vic for being extra....extra careful? She respects his wish and request that they have to be extra careful, for the sake of their career, not to divulge their torrid secret.

But sometimes, desperate situations called for drastic measures. When Lucas was delirious with the sudden onset of fever and flu, resting at Vic's place, it wasn't be appropriate to call in sick on his behalf. But Lucas had appointments lined up on that day, and one of them involved Sullivan, as one of the participants of the meeting, among others. So Sullivan had to be informed that Ripley wasn't going to make it because the meeting was off-site. Someone needed to be informed. And that someone would then have to inform Ripley's secretary and the best person for this task happened to be Sullivan. Vic wasn't supposed to let Sullivan know that she knew Chief Ripley was sick but he was the lesser of the evil. Sullivan _is_ Luke's BFFs. She only had to cook up a convincing story that she happened to be around when Ripley was feeling faint and she happened to be around when he nearly collapsed (which she _did_ that day! _)_.

Vic expected to receive an earful from Ripley afterwards when he found out that she took matters into her own hands. She was surprised that he did nothing of that sort. All he told her is, _"Tell Sully not to let the others know the real reason for my absence, except for my secretary. I don't want my subordinates' morale to drop if they know their Chief has fallen..."_ Lucas never told Vic that Sullivan already knew about them so she was still acting antsy, which amuses Luke a great deal. But sometimes, Vic thinks that Lucas tend to over-dramatize things but she was willing to compromise by being overly protective of their secret, if it pleased him.

Somehow, that day Ripley felt isolated... _.lonely_ would be a better word. His next-in-line of reporting, Sully has gone to Station 23 to backfill a facilitation assignment for another Captain who was on urgent leave and Herrera wasn't hanging out at the Station as he normally does as he's still on vacation. Luke aimlessly raised his phone to his lap again and started to type and sent it within two to three minutes after Vic sent hers.

 **_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Shirtless*, 9:37 a.m._ **

**_"Breakfast.."_ **

[ _*A/N "Shirtless" - ever since Jack saw Ripley's name on Vic's incoming caller ID, she changed his name to "Shirtless" instead of Ripley._ ]

 _Breakfast._ Vic thought that Luke's one word message was strange but waited for the next one to arrive in her inbox while she socialized with her friends at 19 at the pantry.

 **_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Shirtless, 9:39 a.m._ **

**_"Ah, I didn't prepare any."_ **

Vic was a little puzzled, as she stared into the phone. He said he didn't prepare any. Didn't prepare any what? An even stranger message. She thought to herself. Before Vic made sense of what Lucas meant, she typed another quickly and sent, without much thought given into it. Women tend to be more verbose and men succinct on text messages.

 **_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Victoria, 9:34 a.m._ **

**_"I'm sorry Lukey, I couldn't invite you openly because we're supposed to be secret xD. You could maybe suddenly just appear, act surprised to see us there n join us."_ **

A few seconds after she sent her text message, something struck and she finally understood. Lucas meant he _didn't prepare_ any breakfast for himself so there will be nothing for him to eat if he were to join them at breakfast.

 _Yes?_ _No._

Lucas held up his phone, wondering whether to tell Vic that he didn't prepare any breakfast but he held up his phone started to text anyway (when he was supposed to reply Frankel's long, long, long email on why he had to respond that HR message on the _new pension scheme_ ) and he hit send.

Hughes turned her phone screen towards her again with another vibrating alert. 

"Someone's got the swagger...vibrator kept vibrating. Do you even need _it_?" Jack was being cheeky again.

" _It_?" Vic cocked her brow at her friend, really clueless on what he meant at first. As usual, the deadpan expression on Jack's face. Sometimes, Vic wonders if he's been fully cured of his PTSD. 

"Vibrator," sarcasm think in Jack's voice,"with him, I don't really think you need it.." He remembers distinctly seeing Ripley's name on that caller ID that day on Vic's phone. With a virile guy like Chief Ripley and a young, healthy woman like Vic, there shouldn't be a need for a vibrator while they engage in sexual activity. _Hmm_...

"Stop being funny, or I swear I'm gonna kill you!" Vic snarled under her breath, dealing a hard nudge with her elbow against his ribs.

"OUCH!" came the response. Expected.

She turned to her screen again, turning her body away from Jack in case he opens his mouth to spout senseless jokes again.

 **_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Shirtless 9.38 a.m._ **

**_"I'll just pop by quickly for coffee"_ **

It was typical Lucas-style response. Lucas would never admit the real reason for his merely popping by quickly. He had been so accustomed to be the _giver_ and never the _receiver._ A person like him would never admit that he had _no_ breakfast in the fridge with which he could sit down to "have breakfast with the rest". It was no surprise to Vic. A bachelor couldn't have enough grocery in his fridge to pack breakfast with, and this wasn't a normal bachelor -- this was really the Chief of Seattle Fire Department, the big boss himself. Everybody's boss. Very, very busy man. He had to be poised and elegant in front of everyone, Vic was no exception....unless and until one day, she becomes _something_ or _someone_ more than just, well.... _a_ _Vic_ to him.

But this _stand-offish_ ness made him all the more attractive to Vic. Vic sighed with overflowing love for the charming man with the mesmerizing blue eyes who happened to be her boyfriend. Ever since they had their first fight and made up, their relationship was taken to the next level. She gushed. And ever since, he allowed her to take care of him when he caught her bug, their relationship was taken to _yet_ another level. She leaned back onto her chair and rested her elbow on the edge of the table to type her answer. She noticed Jack tilting his head towards her again. She angled away so that he wouldn't peep.

"Texting your boyfriend?" Jack teased in a _low_ voice, such that no one else heard him.

"Just shut up and eat your food already!" Vic answered irritably, elbowing Jack's arm to elicit a mock wince. She continued to type so she could send her message across. And rather than short, choppy and disjointed messages, she decided to type a full paragraphed one so that she could tell him _all_ she wanted to in one message.

In spite of Jack leaning over to peep on and off, she ignored him and he backed off spontaneously. Jack already suspected big time about Lucas and Ripley but Vic neither confirmed or denied, but that's only because he never asked. Other than him, Travis and Capt Sullivan, no one else knew.

Lucas was getting a little antsy too, gushing in the same way about many things, the most salient ones being the same as Vic's -- about how their relationship had progressed over the last week or so and where they should go from there. He had tonnes of emails and administration stuffs to attend to but the thought of Vic.

Well, Vic.

Suddenly, his heart started racing erratic beats. And it ached for someone...but in a nice way. The feeling of someone with whom he could talk to without reservations, someone whom he allowed to get near when he was sick and someone _with_ and _to_ whom he was _emotionally dependent_ was good. In fact, not just good. It was _great_. It made him feel _complete._ Emotional dependence wasn't a bad thing, just that it comes with a high price. What if the subject matter was taken away from him? What if he lost Vic one day (afterall, a firefighters' life is fraught with danger), how would he cope with her absence?

Vic finally hit the send button of what she had been working on.

 _**Message** _  
_**Sender : Victoria 9.48 a.m.** _

**_"There's a Mickey Mouse lunch box. That's yours. Nobody knows that it's mine. There's lettuce, carrot, beetroot, corn, walnuts, chickpeas, baked beans, eggs and chicken breast with Yoghurt garlic sauce. Prepared it specially for you. Good nutrition but not too bland, by sick man's food standard, so don't you complain that I've been feeding you with sick man's food. No need to just "pop by quickly for coffee", there's enough food for you to sit with us throughout the entirety of breakfast. Enjoy it while it lasts unless there's an emergency despatch."_ **

Vic kept turning her phone over to check for incoming messages throughout breakfast but this time the response was almost instantaneous. She was careful not to let Jack see who her messages were from although she had renamed Ripley as _Shirtless._ Her friends would've easily put one and one together and guessed who _Shirtless_ was.

 _**Message** _  
_**Sender : Shirtless 9.49 a.m.** _

_**"Are you giving me orders now?"** _

Vic chuckled. That kind of reply, crisp and succinct, is so very characteristically Ripley while her response, descriptive and expressive, is so very her. Vic punched in her reply immediately too. There was no time to waste - they had both wasted enough time being professional and having that petty fight over being exposed.

 **_Message_ **  
**_Sender : Victoria 9.50 a.m._ **

**_"Come over now, before we finish breakfast . Act natural...if anyone asks about your breakfast box, just say that you prepared it last night and you're on a diet and want to eat clean."_ **

That last message warmed Lucas' heart in an inexplicable way. Vic had chosen to ignore his Chief-complex and instead, she put aside pride and sense of propriety to be the caring girlfriend. Someone who will be preparing bento boxes for him when he is too busy to find time to prepare food for his stomach for the rest of his life when she became no more a secret, and perhaps _something_ or _someone_ else, other than just a girlfriend.

Suddenly, his world spun and he became dizzy -- with sweet thoughts. A curve formed at the corner of his lips.

Now that Captain Herrera is away on vacation and Sullivan is on course somewhere else, he was the most senior person at Station 19 and the least he could do was to serve as acting Captain. Sitting down and having breakfast with the team was the most natural way to serve as acting Captain when they weren't on despatch. And sitting down _with Victoria_ having breakfast with her was the most natural way to behave as her....not just a _lover_ , or _fucking partner_ but...as her _boyfriend._ He assumed that boyfriend equates someone you are together with because you want to go further in life with as opposed to a lover or fucking partner.

He rose from his seat slowly so that he wouldn't get too light headed from all that excitement about what all these could mean to his life. Light-headed? Not him. To qualify for his role, he had to pass exacting physical fitness test. He never got dizzy even when he went without food for 24 hours during a mock drill. Light headed because of an unranked firefighter? What the fuck! He didn't understand what Vic was doing to him and why. Maybe he had fallen for her for real... 

**Author's Note:**

> A nice reader (you know who you are) commented that I should have made my one shot "Your Boss' Boss' Boss" chapter, and so I wrote it for her/him and ALL Vicley shippers (even the silent readers *waves*) and the list goes on and on. This also goes out to @madnephelite for her prompts and being my first reviewer in my very first Vicley fic. I have started working on this for a while now but was reluctant to post because I didn't want to disappoint readers with slow updates but I would never post this if I keep procrastinating. Here's the unedited version and I beg your pardon if you spot grammatical errors and typos!


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